Birding and other distractions

There have been regular reports of Queen of Spain Fritillary along the coastal path at East Tilbury, up to 20 individuals in the last 1-2 weeks. I had not seen the species since the population at Walmer in September 2022, so went to Essex this morning. I parked at Colne then walked about a mile to the seawall passing an abandoned cereal field on the way, very reminiscent of the habitat of the butterflies at Walmer four years ago. On reaching the seawall we walked south along the coastal path seeing good numbers of Clouded Yellow and very numerous Common Blue. However, no QofS so we turned back and instead walked north, finding the first Fritillary within half an hour. Then over a distance of about a quarter of a mile there were four more, all on the path occasionally lifting their wings to display the distinctive underwing, and often flying short distances. They were not fresh specimens, with some damage to the wings or somewhat worn colouration being noted. The tally of Clouded Yellow...

A Grey Phalarope had been reported on a small pool near Holborough Marshes, so having not seen one for a few years I couldn't resist a visit there. The bird was viewed from the raised bank of the river, and was about 100 metres away. It was a first winter individual with mostly grey upperparts though with dark juvenile plumage on the nape. The Collins Guide mentions a light apricot/buff wash on the neck and breast, and this was just about discernable though the light was poor throughout the visit. Grey Phalarope 

When I arrived at Dungeness this morning it was raining hard so my plan to start with a seawatch wasn't going to happen. Instead I went to the RSPB reserve making use of the hides/lookout there. The terns that had been present on recent visits were now absent, and waders were limited to Dunlin and Ringed Plover. F ortunately, the rain stopped whilst there. I drove round to park near the old lighthouse and was surprised to see a couple of what seemed semi-tame foxes close to the cars. Someone put down a plate of food for them and they were joined by two more foxes. The foxes seemed to be young animals probably born this year, all very approachable and no doubt accustomed to being fed in view of their behaviour! I was the only person at the seawatch hide, though I think others were viewing from the fishing boats. There was a big movement of terns flying west after the rain, numbers difficult to estimate though certainly many hundreds. They were accompanied by several Arctic Skuas. I ...

A short visit to coincide with the rising tide at Bloors. It was a sunny morning with little wind. There were plenty of ducks on the river including good numbers of Wigeon and approx 20 Pintail. As expected Redshank was the most numerous wader amongst which was a single Spotted Redshank, probably a juvenile. Two Knot and several Bar-tailed Godwit were also present together with more numerous Black-tailed Godwit. A Kingfisher flew in and landed on the vertical wall of the wharf, just visible if I craned my head over the railings. Two Grey Wagtail flew over. Spotted Redshank  Black-tailed Godwit 

Two visits to Dungeness in a week is unusual for me, prior to that I hadn't been since the spring. This visit was prompted by the weather forecast showing that a belt of rain was moving up through Kent, clearing the south coast early in the morning. There was the potential to ground some migrants I thought. It was raining hard when I left home but on reaching Dungeness the rain had stopped and the sun was out. We decided to start at the Observatory and checked out the moat. Several Willow Warblers and Whitethroats were seen, also a Reed Warbler. The Obs had caught some interesting moths though they weren't ringing any birds. We went to the Hanson Hide to look for waders though they were few and far between. Two Garganey showed very close to the hide and neither appeared to be the bird seen on Saturday. Fortunately the RSPB reserve had a good collection of waders viewed from the Firth Lookout. Good numbers of Dunlin and Ruff were present, also three Curlew Sandpipers and two Lit...

A sunny day though with a brisk easterly wind. I began with a seawatch from just below the car park. It was very quiet with barely any gulls let alone skuas. The bushes were also disappointingly quiet and hard work just to find a Blackcap. I was on the point of leaving when a large Buddleia caught my eye as it was still in flower so I checked it out. It had a lovely array of butterflies which included four Painted Ladies, three Peacock and a Red Admiral. Also present on the Buddleia were two Hummingbird Hawkmoths and a Hornet Hoverfly. The moths were incredibly active during the time I was there, and it was challenging to photograph them. In the end I managed to freeze the action of the wings in photos by using the same settings as for birds in flight except increasing the shutter speed to 1/4000. Painted Lady  Underwing of Painted Lady  Peacock  Red Admiral  Hummingbird Hawkmoth  Hornet Hoverfly